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Stir-fried Leeks with Vegetables

Chinese love to eat leeks during Chinese New Year (commonly on the eve and 7th day) because of its Chinese name – 蒜苗/大蒜 (Suan Miao/Da Suan), where “蒜” sounds like calculating (“算”) in Mandarin. Due to the similar sounds, it is believed that eating leeks is an auspicious symbol of wealth (lots of money to count) in the coming year. Although I never believe in any of the auspicious food symbolism, I think it’s fun to cook and eat festively. Here is a meatless recipe for leeks, stir-fried in taucheo (soy bean paste) with vegetables like mushrooms, baby corn and carrots.

From the photo, it looks very appetizing!
This morning, I went to Giant and NTUC. I saw many people buying leeks. Now I know why. Thanks Wiffy, for the cultural explanation. It makes the recipes more interesting!

Growing up, I always thought leeks were too ‘grassy’ both in texture and smell but I have gradually just started appreciating this vegetable. This is def. an auspicious dish hehe Happy Chinese New Year to you and your family!

Hi, I noticed that your leek stir fry with mushroom recipes is just cutting the leek diagonal method, so in this case how to wash the dirt that trap inside the leek ? So the method suggested to wash the leeks is not applicable here : 1. Wash the crevices between the leaves thoroughly, as there is soil trapped in between the leaves. One way to clean them is to slice them half lengthwise, and after washing thoroughly, pat dry with kitchen paper towels and cut accordingly.